Tom Fyans Director of Campaigns and Policy | CPRE The countryside charity
In her first announcement as the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss has reversed the moratorium on fracking (see: https://news.sky.com/story/ban-on-fracking-to-be-lifted-as-part-of-liz-trusss-energy-plan-12692646. Despite all we knew about fracking – its devastating impact on the climate, its toxic effects on local communities, and its total inability to bring down energy bills (see: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/20/fact-check-why-fracking-uk-will-not-reduce-energy-bills) the government has gone full steam ahead back into the stone age.
The good news? We’ve defeated fracking before. Together, you were one of millions across the country to form one of the most formidable anti-fossil fuel movements the UK has ever seen. And together, we can do it again. But we need to mobilise, and we need to do so quickly.
From getting the word out to MPs to pushing the press coverage, we’ve got lots of plans already – but we need your help to get this campaign up and running. Your actions helped bring fracking down before.
As recently as March, Kwasi Kwarteng – the newly appointed chancellor – stated that fracking would take years to extract sufficient volumes, and “would come at a high cost for communities and our precious countryside” (see: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10581569/KWASI-KWARTENG-Switch-power-supplies-win-win-except-Putin.html).
Kwarteng commissioned a review on fracking that – conveniently – the government has not published, despite today’s announcement. All the evidence is stacked against the government, but Liz Truss appears to be covering her ears.
Worse still, the government is considering discounts to local people near fracking sites in what can only be called a feeble attempt to bribe vulnerable rural communities to accept an unpopular, unsafe and polluting process that will destroy their tranquillity.
We know the answers to the energy and cost of living crisis – insulation, emergency support to vulnerable households, and a rapid rollout of clean energy. We can’t let the government plunge us backwards again.
With an expected emergency debate on fracking expected in parliament in the new few days, we need to get the word out to MPs quickly.
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